While some residents of the Notre-Dame neighbourhood see it as a chance to leave a sector where arsenic emissions from the Horne copper smelter are associated to a higher risk of cancer, others greet the impending move with sadness and anguish.

There are nearly 400 mining exploration projects in the boreal forest of the Eeyou Istchee, the traditional lands of the James Bay Cree. It is unclear how many will result in operating mines in the coming years, but there is potential, and the government wants to take advantage of it.

Heather House worries the potential extraction of lithium and other critical minerals, because it deprives the Cree of certain hunting grounds, will exacerbate food insecurity in the same way major Hydro-Qubec projects have had a negative impact on the local food supply.

Starting in2025, approximately 15 heavy trucks a day will roar through the ancestral hunting grounds of the Nemaska Cree, carrying the thousands of tonnes of orethat Nemaska Lithium plans to mine.

In order to develop mines for lithium and other critical minerals needed for the electrification of transportation, the GrandCouncil of the Crees and the Quebec government are planning to build hundreds of kilometres of new roads and power lines, a railroad, and a deepwater port in the Eeyou Istchee.

The Horne copper smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Que., is currently allowed to emit 100 nanograms of arsenic per cubic metre of air. Now, the province is recommending that be reduced to 15.

Dr. Luc Boileau said average emissions of 15 nanograms of arsenic per cubic metre of air would be a safe level for people in Rouyn-Noranda until air quality in the city is "eventually" improved to the provincial standard.